Ship&#39;s hatch covers comprising two sections foldably connected to each other



Feb. 12, 1963 R. 0. AA OLD SHIPS HATCH COVERS COMPRISING TWO SECTIONSFOLDABLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER FIG. 2

Filed Dec. 27, 1960 United States Patent SHIPS HATCH COVERS COMPRISINGTWO SEC- TIONS FOLDABLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER Reinhardt Olai Aarvold,Stenkullen, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Gotaverken, Gothenburg,Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Dec. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 78,442Claims priority, application Sweden Jan. 15, 1960 2 Claims. (Cl.160-188) The present invention relates to an arrangement for closingships hatchways and comprises a primary section swingably connected inrelation to one end of the coaming and a secondary section foldablyconnected to the first one. The secondary section is during the openingand closing movement supported by wheels at its outer end, running ontracks arranged along the sides of the coaming. In order to make acomplete uncovering of the hatch opening possible in batch covers ofthis type, it is usual to connect the primary section to the deck bymeans of hinges, in which the hinge arms are long enough to allow thefolded sections to be placed between the hinge centre and the end of thecoaming. This will partly lead to that the sections in stowed positionextend high above the coaming, thus on many occasions being inconvenient.to the crew operating the cargo handling gear, and partly more powerwill be required from the apparatus operating the hatch covers. Thelast-mentioned disadvantage is more appreciable with hatches, in whichthe maneuvering apparatus is carried by the section.

An essential improvement can be attained if the primary section at itsouter edge is supported by slideable carrying members, that tracks forsaid members are arranged outside the sWinging side of the coaming, andthat the primary section is provided with bars reaching outside saidmembers, the ends of said bars having suitable trunnion pins adapted forco-operation with fixed guiding slots below said tracks, the relativeshape and position of said slots and tracks being such, that the membersare pressed outwards the coaming upon an up wardly tilting movement ofthe primary section and vice versa.

In the accompanying drawing some details of an embodiment according tothe invention as applied to a hold hatch of a large ship are shown byway of example.

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the opening with the covers inpartly open position.

FIGURE 2 shows a slight modification at a corner of the hatch near tothe swinging axis with the sections in closed position.

FIGURE 3 shows the same view with the sections in nearly stowedposition.

FIGURE 4 shows a plan view of the detail in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 shows a plan view of the detail in FIG- URE 3.

The closing assembly comprises a primary section 1 and a secondarysection 2 foldably connected to the first one. Section 2 is in a mannerknown per se provided with wheels 3, which are adapted to run on a firstset of tracks 4 arranged in connection to the sides 5 of the coaming.Both sections are hingedly connected to each other and carry a hydraulicmaneuvering system, containing a working motor 6. By the aid of thisapparatus it is possible to perform the desired opening and closingmovements.

The hydraulic system comprises a pump 15 driven by a suitable motor 16.Oil is supplied from a store tank through a pipe 17 and is underpressure led to a distribution control member 18, by means of which itis directed through either of two conduits 19 or 20 to the actualworking motor 6. The other of said pipes then ICC acts as a return flowconduit and the oil is finally lead back to the tank by way of a pipe21.

The primary section rests near to its outer edge on twowheels 7, whichserve as pin members of pivots.. These wheels run on a second set oftracks 8. As shown in FIGURES 2 to 5 these tracks may be an extension ofthe tracks 4 along the sides of the coaming, but they may as shown inFIGURE 1 be arranged separately, at some distance from the corners ofthe opening. The primary section is also provided with two bars 9extending outside the wheels and the outer ends of the bars are equippedwith trunnion pins 10. These co-operate with guiding slots 11 arrangedin vertical support members 8' for the tracks 8, and are arranged insuch a manner, that the trunnion pins, when section 1 is swinging on thewheels 7, press these wheels and also the two sections outwards from thecoaming. During the opening movement the swinging centre thus all thetime moves outwards in the plane of the coaming. At the end of eachtrack 8 there is a stop member 12 preventing a further movementoutwards. The track 8 has such a length that both sections in stowedposition will wholly be situated outside the hatchway and thus theentire opening is uncovered. In a construction of ordinary type thetrunnion pins 10 would correspond to the hinge pins and be fixed in theposition shown in FIGURE 1. In such a case it had been necessary to turnthe whole hatch assembly on this centre.

Within the scope of the appendent claims the details of the inventionmay be varied. The maneuvering apparatus may comprise any hydraulic,pneumatic or electric apparatus carried by thesections and intended tooperate the same. The two sections can be arranged to cover a wholehatch opening, but in very long openings it can be suitable to arrange apair of sections at each of the opposite ends of the opening. In thiscase a sealing may be provided between the secondary sections adjacentto each other. The swinging centre is usually arranged in the shipstransverse direction, but in ships of a certain type, for instance bulkcarriers, it can be suitable to have the swinging-centre in thelongitudinal direction in order to allow the cargo handling gear,laterally to reach into the holds at the same time giving thewatch-oflicer opportunity to survey all the hatchways from the bridge.The extended tracks 8 can be designed with a slope in relation to thehorizontal plane and the slot 11 will in conjunction therewith be shapedin such a manner, that the desired movement of the sections can beattained with a minimum of power-consumption.

What I claim is:

1. In a ship having a deck with a hatch opening therein, a coamingsurrounding said hatch opening and a sectional hatch cover adapted toco-operate with said coaming, said cover comprising a primary sectionswingably mounted in relation to one end of the coaming and a secondarysection foldably connected to the primary one, a maneuvering apparatuscarried by the sections and working thereon for obtaining opening andclosing movements, a first set of tracks extending along the sides ofthe coaming, wheels at the outer ends of said secondary section adaptedto run on said first set of tracks, slideable carrying members at theswinging side of the primary section, a second set of tracks outside ofthe corresponding side of the coaming said slidable carrying membersbeing adapted to run on said second set of tracks, and being arrangedmainly at the same level as the tracks and having a length correspondingto the depth of the sections when folded together, the primary sectionbeing further provided with bars reaching outside said carrying membersand having trunnion pins at their ends for co-operation with fixedguiding slots below said second set of tracks, the relative shape andposition of said second set of tracks and said slots being such, thatthe members are pushed outwards from the coaming, over 21 ReferencesCited in the file of this patent distance correspondlngto said foldeddepth of the sections, UNITED STATES PATENTS upon an upwardly tiltingmovement of the primary section, and vice versa 2,682,351 Durand et a1.June 29, 1954 2. A-ships hatch cover according to claim 1, in which 52,932,272 Beas P 1960 said slot is arranged in a support member for eachof the FOREIGN PATENTS V secondary tracks, said support member restingdlrectly on 655,199 Great Britain f y 1951 said deck.

1. IN A SHIP HAVING A DECK WITH A HATCH OPENING THEREIN, A COAMINGSURROUNDING SAID HATCH OPENING AND A SECTIONAL HATCH COVER ADAPTED TOCO-OPERATE WITH SAID COAMING, SAID COVER COMPRISING A PRIMARY SECTIONSWINGABLY MOUNTED IN RELATION TO ONE END OF THE COAMING AND A SECONDARYSECTION FOLDABLY CONNECTED TO THE PRIMARY ONE, A MANEUVERING APPARATUSCARRIED BY THE SECTIONS AND WORKING THEREON FOR OBTAINING OPENING ANDCLOSING MOVEMENTS, A FIRST SET OF TRACKS EXTENDING ALONG THE SIDES OFTHE COAMING, WHEELS AT THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID SECONDARY SECTION ADAPTEDTO RUN ON SAID FIRST SET OF TRACKS, SLIDEABLE CARRYING MEMBERS AT THESWINGING SIDE OF THE PRIMARY SECTION, A SECOND SET OF TRACKS OUTSIDE OFTHE CORRESPONDING SIDE OF THE COAMING SAID SLIDABLE CARRYING MEMBERSBEING ADAPTED TO RUN ON SAID SECOND SET OF TRACKS, AND BEING ARRANGEDMAINLY AT THE SAME LEVEL AS THE TRACKS AND BEING ARRANGED MAINLY AT THESAME LEVEL AS THE TRACKS AND HAVING A LENGTH CORRESPONDING TO THE DEPTHOF THE SECTIONS WHEN FOLDED TOGETHER, THE PRIMARY SECTION BEING FURTHERPROVIDED WITH BARS REACHING OUTSIDE SAID CARRYING MEMBERS AND HAVINGTRUNNION PINS AT THEIR ENDS FOR CO-OPERATION WITH FIXED GUIDING SLOTSBELOW SAID SECOND SET OF TRACKS, THE RELATIVE SHAPE AND POSITION OF SAIDSECOND SET OF TRACKS AND SAID SLOTS BEING SUCH, THAT THE MEMBERS AREPUSHED OUTWARDS FROM THE COAMING, OVER A DISTANCE CORRESPONDING TO SAIDFOLDED DEPTH OF THE SECTIONS, UPON AN UPWARDLY TILTING MOVEMENT OF THEPRIMARY SECTION, AND VICE VERSA.